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Communicating Usability Problems

2.
Relevance <ul><li>Discovering usability breakdowns is just half of the work </li></ul><ul><li>Communicating problems effectively to the relevant stakeholders is crucial for the success of the mandate </li></ul><ul><li>An excellent usability analysis may fail if the communication fails </li></ul>

3.
Overall Communication Goals <ul><ul><li>Stakeholders are convinced of the gravity of the usability problems </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>They can gather all the necessary elements to orchestrate the proper strategies for fixing them </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>HABIT CHANGE </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><ul><li>“ I thought it was good, you convinced me we have hard problems to work on”. </li></ul></ul></ul>

6.
Separation of concerns <ul><li>Decouple a usability problem into the various design dimensions it is concerned with (content, navigation, semiotics, graphics, etc.) </li></ul><ul><li>Distinguishing between problems which are requirements-independent and problems depending on the purpose of the application (e.g. scenarios supported). </li></ul>

8.
Extendibility <ul><li>Describe each problem as a representative of a class of problems </li></ul><ul><li>Provide a general statement pointing to specific examples . </li></ul><ul><li>Do NOT suggest a fixing by scenario or by example </li></ul><ul><li>Show you analyzed it really in depth </li></ul>

9.
Authority <ul><li>Give reason of your findings </li></ul><ul><li>Drawing on elements which can gain credibility </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Experience: expertise of the analysts </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Consequences: impact on the user experience </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Anomalies: compliance with the standard and conventions. </li></ul></ul>

10.
Technicality <ul><li>Avoid usability jargon </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Dot not talk “usabilish” </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Adapt your concepts and wording to the target audience you are communicating with </li></ul><ul><ul><li>E.G. You are communicating in front of the project managers and design team </li></ul></ul>

11.
Prioritization <ul><li>Communicate your findings in order of importance </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Gravity for the user experience </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Estimated effort needed to fix the problem </li></ul></ul>

16.
Executive Summary <ul><li>It is addressed to people that does not have time to read the entire report </li></ul><ul><li>It should present the key findings in a very clear and convincing way </li></ul><ul><li>1 page is usually enough </li></ul><ul><li>It is NOT </li></ul><ul><ul><li>the table of content in prose </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>the description of the work </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>the organization of the team </li></ul></ul>

17.
Table of Content <ul><li>It is the index to the main sections of the document and the corresponding page number </li></ul><ul><li>Salient titles are key to convey the overall flow of the report </li></ul><ul><li>Is not a detailed outline </li></ul><ul><li>Max 1-2 pages </li></ul>

18.
Introduction <ul><li>It may describe: </li></ul><ul><ul><li>(explicit) goals and spirit of the report </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>expected results and how they can be used </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>It cites the methodology and tools used (pointing to an appendix) </li></ul></ul>

19.
Results of usability analysis <ul><li>It may consist of different subsections </li></ul><ul><ul><li>E.g. according to the type of findings and methods used </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Inspection vs user testing </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Illustrate in detail the usability problems found </li></ul><ul><li>Ground them properly and demonstrates their importance </li></ul><ul><li>Use (commented) screen shots to vividly show the problems </li></ul>

21.
Requirements for improvement <ul><li>Describe your recommendations for improving the application in close relation to the usability problems illustrated. </li></ul><ul><li>Your are not (yet) in charge of the redesign </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Let designers do their work </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Express requirements (what need to be reflected upon) and NOT design solutions (what should be replaced with what) </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Your suggestions should not be felt as mandatory by the designers </li></ul><ul><li>This content can be highlighted while describing the usability problems or in a section apart </li></ul>

22.
Synopsis of usability problems <ul><li>It shows the main usability problems found the corresponding requirements for improvement </li></ul><ul><li>Table formats are preferred </li></ul><ul><li>Show priority and gravity for the problems here </li></ul><ul><li>Organize them by dimensions </li></ul>